Tube socket



Nov. 18,1930. N. c. SCHELLENGER Y i 1,781,957

TUBE'SOCKET' Filed Miami 15 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Illlllllu r5 Nov. 18, 1930. N. c. SCHELLENGERQ' 1,

\ TUBE SOCKET Filed March 15, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet; 2

flaw? 500/3:

" Patented Nov. 1a, 1931) UNITED. STATES P TENT OFFICE men 0. scnmandan, ornnxmm'r, naming .Assienoa 'ro cnrcaeo 'rnnnrnonn surrmrco, or ELKHAB'I, nmunu, a conromrron or. nrmawm 4 1 m1: sooner.

a nuaoamea 1mm 1:, 1925. Serial Io. 15,234.-

Y The present invention relates to sockets tioning of the sound are practically clamped in a V groove. By this arrangement, I am able to get line contact on two of the lateral sides of each stud instead for thermionic tubes and the'like.

Sockets for radio tubes which are now on the market, do not always make proper contact with the studs of the tubes; ThlS is due in some cases to the fact that the socket members', especially the springs which contact with the studs, are made of poor material which fails to stand up under continuous usage. In most cases, it is because of the impracticability of the means employed to make such contact. In most of these devices point contact is relied upon and this oftentimes is not firm enough to prevent the contacts from becoming separated by vibrations. The result is unnecessary noise and imperfect funcre roducing apparatus. I obviate the above difliculties by a novel structure and arrangement of the contact springs in the socket which make contact with the studs of the tube. In my, device the studs of merely a point contact as is now generally the case. Furthermore, the studs themselves are held tightly against their respective contacts which makes loose contacting impossible. There are certain other features of the present invention such as simplicity and ruggedness' of structure which will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

In order toacquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of constructing and operating my. invention, I shall now describe the same in. connection with the accompan" g drawings.

In the drawing:

Figure-1 is a side elevational view of a socket embodying shy invention, in position on the mounting base of a radio set;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the socket showing the structure of the springs; v Figure 2A is a fragmentary sectionalview 3 illustrating the shape of the lower part of the socket.

Figure 3 shows the manner in whichone studof the tube makes contact with the cooperating spring in the socket;

l Figure 4 isa vertical section of the socket talien on line4-4 of Figure 2;

a tube socket Figures 6, 7 and 8 are the side, front, and

is a bottom view of a spring member s owing the manner of mounting same 1n topTviews respectively of a spring member;

igure'9'isa side elevational view showing the manner of mountin nthe socket where a cushion member isuse betweemthe socket and the mounting base; and

- Figure 10 is a vertical sectional view taken through the central ortion of Figure 9.

In the form of soc et which I have illustrated as embodyin my invention, I rovide a tubular cup mem er 10, which'is o mold- .ed insulation materi l, preferably a condensation' product.

side of the cup which contains the vertical portion of the slot-11', and permits the cup rib merges 'into the conical-base 14. The bottom portion 15 is open and it has inwardly screws 16 which lie parallel to the axis of the cup. Formed integral with the bottom. 15

.is a downwardly extending annular flange 17 into an opening 18' in the mounting plate 18.

The annular flan e 17 is provided with flat bottomed rectangu ar recesses which serve 1 as seats for the mounting portions of the springs 20 and clamping nuts 19 which are threaded on the screws .16. These recesses are equally spaced in the flange 17 and each recess is-at substantially right an les to its adjacent recesses. They are also on y slightly portions of the wider. thanthe mounting springs so that there woul .be no possibility of the springs turnin therein when in use.

The spr1ngs'20 are he securely in position to be taken more readily out of the die. This extending 'lugs'15' .apertured to receive the by the screws 16 which extend through openangles to the portion 21. This serves to brace the spring when in use. The contact portion 23 is formed by bending the portion 22 back on itself. It willbe noticed that thiscontact portion consists of three parts, the first which is designated by the letter a, in Figure 3, serves merely as a guide for the stud of the tube when thetube is first inserted into the socket. The second part, labeled 6, serves not only as a guide when the tube is being turned into position, but also exerts a force against the stud which increases as the tube is nearing its final position. The moment the stud passes the bend in the part b to the part c, it slips into a V which is formed between the parts C and 21 and is clamped and held firmly between them, as is shown by the dotted lines in Figure 3. This permits of firm line contact between the spring 20 and two sides of the tube stud which cooperates with it.

Both legs or portions 22 and 23 of the spring lie substantially parallel to the line of movement of the stud. The member 15 providing an abutment for the parts 21 and 22 of the spring, when the free leg 23 is engaged by the stud while it is moved by a motion of translation with the parts 21 and 22, respectively.

By means of a circular disk 25 which fits over'the screws 16, it is possible to hold the socket in position relative the mounting base 18 by tightening the nuts 26. Leads 27 may either be soldered to the screws 16 or fitted thereon by being-secured between the upper nut 26 on each screw and the member 25.

The proper positioning of the socket on the mounting base may be easily determined by having the lower conical portion of the socket stamped F, -F, P, and G to designate the filament terminals and-.the plate'and grid terminals respectively as shown at 29.

In Figures 9 and '10, the manner of mounting the socket is shown when a cushion 34 is used between the socket and the. mounting base. In this case connections between the leads 28 and the socketsprings are made by either securing the leads between-the horizontal portion of the springs and the nut which holds them in place, or by using a metal strip which fitsover the screw that holds the spring in place and soldering the lead wires thereto.

spring, a'movable cont-act stud cooperating therewith, said spring including a pair of contact legs both of which are adapted to be engaged by said stud, and means on said mounting for holding one leg of the spring and forming an abutment for said leg, the other leg of the spring being free, the legs of the spring extending in the general direction of engaging movement of the contact stud and the free leg lying at an angle to the path of movement of the stud, said stud having means cooperating with said mounting for guidingthe motion thereof with respect tosaid spring.

2. In combination, a pair of cooperating contacts comprising a relatively stationary sprin member and a relatively movable cylindrical stud, the stud being moved by motion of translation into contact with the spring, said spring member comprising a generally U-shaped spring with both legs lying substantially parallel to the line of movement of the stud, and means for holding the extremity of the remote leg, said means providing an abutment for the springya projection of the remote leg of sa1d spring disposed adjacent the extremity of the free leg,

the free legof said spring bein enga ed by the stud as it moves toward said pro ection and the extremity of the free leg.

3. Incombination, a tube socket having a base portion containing a plurality of horizontal recesses, and contact springs having horizontal portions adapted for mounting in said recesses, said springs having two ver tical portions bearing against the sides of said base portion and a third vertical portion which is swung toward said first two vertical portions when in use.

4. An electrical contact element comprising a mounting lug, a substantially U-shape'd contact portion having one of its legs provided with a. portion e leg-and formed integral with said lug, said other leg being resilient and movable to and stud, said spring comprising a pair of connt toward the other said spring'when engaged by the said stud being ada ted to, assume substantially a V- .shape wit the stud disposed between them. 6. In combination, a'pair of cooperable contacts comprising a relatively fixed contact spring and a relatively movable stud, said sprin comprising a resilient contact portion an a stationary contact portion, and

means for guiding said stud in its movement to cause it to first engage said resilient contact rtion and to depress'the same toward the xed portion until the two portions assume a substantially V sha said studbein stop d in its movement y the said fixe ,pirtion at which time it will be positioned tween the portions and tightly gripped thereby.

7. In combination,-.,a pair of cooperable contacts comprising a relatively fixed contact spring and a relatively movable stud, said spring comprising a mounting lug and a substantlally U-shaped portionhaving one of its 1e formed into a portion bent-toward the ot or leg and formed inte' al with said lug, said other'le'g being resllient, movable to and fromsaid first leg, and lying in the ath of said movable stud, and means for gu'i ing the stud in its movement to cause it to ini-.

tially contact and depress said movable leg toward said bent portion, said movable leg when. fully. depressed by said stud formirilg withsaid bent portion substantially a shaped gri stud en end of t e spring.

10. In combination, a pair of cooperable contacts comprismg a relativel' fixed contact I spring and a relatively mova le stud, said spring comprising a resilient contact and a stationary contact portion, an means for guidin sald stud in its movement to cause it to irst'engage said' resilient contact portion and to depress the same towards the fixed portion, said stud enga 'ng theresilient rtion.

ges both the fixed end and the free spring portion at the edge t ereof and mov-- ing the same until'the' stud engages both the resilient contact portion and thefixed contact portion.

11. In combination, a plurality of pairs of contacts com-prising a plurality of contact sprin m nted on a common support and a plur ity of cooperating lugs, fixed with respect to one another, each of said springs comprising a resilient contact portion and a stationary contact portion, means for guiding the studs, said studs being rotatablea's a unit to each engage the end of the resilient portion of a spring and to, move said ends toward the stationary contact portion of the re ective sprin s, said movement being steppe when the e ge of each stud engages the stationary as well as the resilient portion of its spring. l p

In witness whereof, I hereuntosubscribe myname this 11th da of March, 1925. v

- NEWTON SGHELLENGER.

for the stud' with' the stud in contact wit both the bent portion and the.

movable leg of the contact spring. 7

8. In combination, a mountm having an aperture, a tubular soc et including a plurality of contact elements, said socket havmgl aperture, sai ortion being provided with a. lurality of ateral recesses for receiving 0 -set lugs of said contact element a clam' ing member disposed on the side of t e mounting member opposite to that. ofsaid socket, and means common to both the socket and' the clam ing memberfor fa'stening said lugs to sai socket rtion and for drawing-the clamping mem r and socket toward each other to tightly secure them to said -mounting member disposed therebe tween. y

9. An electric membera portion extending into said i I 1 socket having 'a leaf spring 7 7 contact, one end of which is fixed-and the other end free, the free end being bent tox wards the fixed end, the a ring being at right anglestothe. plane o .the bottom of Y the socket, andbeing arranged to establish line contact with .a stud whichis moved latf erally into engegementwith the end of mthe, sprin and'whichgmoves ,thefree end of the spring towards the end until thenot 

